Zzzap’s sonic booms explained / passes through glass

“I have twenty-three confirmed reports of you causing sonic booms in my files. You did it just this morning when you arrived. You can’t cause a sonic boom without mass to displace air.”
“Unless I’m displacing the air by some other means.” He held up the gleaming arm again and wiggled the fingers. “Inside the visible area of the energy form is a little over nine hundred and fifty degrees Celsius. I keep all that energy contained, but air still comes near me, gets heated, and pushes away. That’s where the sonic booms come from. I’m not solid, but the atmosphere acts as if I am.”
The doctor stroked his beard. “Assuming I believe you, Mr. Burke, what are you getting at with all this?”
“What I’m getting at, Emil—Can I call you Emil? What I’m getting at is that to a being of pure energy, a big pane of clear glass is the same thing as an open door.”

Excerpt From Ex-Patriots, pg 239-240
Peter Clines
https://books.apple.com/us/book/ex-patriots/id585738393